1. Field
The present disclosure relates to the control of an electrical grid. More specifically, the present disclosure relates to a method for controlling an electrical grid by simultaneously using both the supply-side regulation and the demand-side fast demand response.
2. Related Art
In traditional electricity markets, economic mechanisms are frequently used to arrive at accurate incentives and to dispatch services. For example, an operator of a power system, such as an independent system operator (ISO), may request bids up to 24 hours in advance of a desired service. In response to the request, one or more suppliers, such as a power plant, may bid to supply power or ancillary services (such as regulation, load following, spinning reserve, non-spinning reserve, replacement reserve and/or other services that help maintain power system stability in response to unanticipated variations in the supply and demand of electricity). Based on the received bids, the ISO may select or dispatch the services it needs to operate the power system or grid. In the case of contingency services (e.g., spinning reserve), the ISO may dispatch the services and compensate the corresponding suppliers for being available, even if these suppliers are not subsequently required to provide power.
In an electrical grid, electricity consumption and production must balance at all times; any significant imbalance could cause grid instability or severe voltage fluctuations, resulting in failures within the grid. In the current electrical grid architecture, system operators rely heavily on ancillary regulation services to resolve the energy imbalance between supply and demand. These regulation services are provided on multiple scales of time and power, traditionally on the supply side by utilities and power generation companies. However, these regulation services are expensive and can be slow to ramp up. Moreover, the supply side regulation services are often constrained by limited capacity and ramp rates.